A noted authority has said that “no other modern language can translate the ancient classics so readily, and yet so completely and forcibly as the Bohemian.”

The Bohemian is the most developed of the Slavic tongues. Consistently a phonetic tongue, it is pronounced as it is written.

The vowels are pronounced as in Italian.

Invariably the accent falls on the first syllable, irrespective of the length of the word.

Before Hus’s time Bohemian orthography resembled somewhat that of the present day Polish. By introducing the diacritic mark, the reformer did away with groups of consonants such as cs, cz.

The diacritic mark occurs on the following letters: Á, É, c, d, Í, n, r, Š, t, Ú, u, Ý, . D and Ó are used least of all. The mark tends alike to soften and shade the sound of the letter.

• Á is pronounced long as in darling.
• É as a in care.
• e as ye in yellow.
• c as ch in cherry.
• Í and Ý as ee in tree.
• n as Ñ in caÑon.
• r is thought to be unpronounceable by a non-Bohemian.

The Germans taunt the Bohemians with the r. The rsh in Pershing approaches the sound though it does not quite express it.

• Š as sh in shall.
• Ú and u long as in rule.
• as in j in the French word jour.
• ch as in the Scottish loch.